Page 10 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 25 February 2014
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the Chief Minister requires of her ministers through the code of conduct. Madam Speaker, the ACT Ministerial Code of Conduct 2012 makes it very clear what is required of the ministers in this place. I will quote from the Ministerial Code of Conduct:
Ministers in the ACT government are rightly expected to uphold and demonstrate the highest standards—
The “highest standards,” Madam Speaker—
of personal and professional conduct.
I ask any of us here whether they can honestly stand in this place and say that this minister has met that test. Has she displayed the highest standards of personal and professional conduct? It goes on:
Ministers must act lawfully with integrity, probity and respect for others.
I ask again, given her actions—be it retweeting, be it the insult caused to the multicultural community, be it the disrespect she showed to staff at Bimberi—can any of us stand in this place and show that the minister has acted with the respect of others? The code goes on to state:
Ministers must not dishonestly or recklessly attack the reputation of any other person …
Madam Speaker, what Ms Burch did with her tweet against a minister of the federal parliament can only be described as reckless and she has been in breach of this code. She has recklessly attacked the reputation of another person.
The minister has failed to uphold the code of conduct on every level and she has abjectly and repeatedly failed. If the Chief Minister or any of those opposite believe that Joy Burch’s actions are consistent with the code of conduct, then we may as well shred that document now. It has been rendered worthless. The Chief Minister knows this. The Chief Minister knows that if roles were reversed she would be demanding the removal of any such train wreck of a minister. If it were any other parliament they would insist on it.
In this parliament and in our party there is absolutely no doubt that this minister must go. I know that the Chief Minister will fail the people of Canberra in this task but we will not. The minister must go and we will keep pursuing that until she does. (Time expired.)
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Disability, Children and Young People, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Women, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Racing and Gaming) (10.18): I thank Mr Hanson for bringing this on and beginning the new year in such a way, giving me an opportunity to respond to some of the comments raised and to sit and listen to other comments as they come forward, but also an opportunity to show how I am just getting on with the job as opposed to you over there.
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